Dallaglio - England need time

Dallaglio: Unconcerned by loss

Related links

Teams

• England

Also see

• Sky Sports experts
• Rugby on Sky
• Live scores

Lawrence Dallaglio has backed the decision of England manager Martin Johnson not to make wholesale changes ahead of this weekend's Test against South Africa.

Despite England's 28-14 loss to Australia last weekend, Johnson has made only one change to his starting XV, with James Haskell coming in at blindside flanker in an attempt to beef up England's pack against the physical Springboks.

And Dallaglio, who played in the side Johnson captained to the World Cup five years ago, backed the decision, saying that hasty decisions would not help aid England's cause long-term.

"He'll stick with this group of players because he's been on the other side and he knows that chopping and changing selections is not the answer to success," said Dallaglio, who retired at the end of last season with 85 caps.

"If one thing doesn't work you don't try another thing and then go back to another.

"That is a policy which has not produced results over the last four of five years so I think it's about working with the group you've got, improving the lowest common denominator, making them all get better and better."

Unconcerned

Dallaglio said he was unconcerned by England's loss on Saturday, adding that the portents were good provided the team continued to develop.

"England created chances against the Wallabies so the fact they lost is not particularly worrying," he said.

"They probably created more than Australia, they just didn't take them. So it's not all negative and they'll learn very quickly. You have to learn how to win Test matches.

"They would have sat down in the changing room and thought 'how the hell did we lose that game?' Because Australia actually weren't that good.

"But there has to be a starting point. Yes, it's a shame but the most important thing is that England have made some mistakes and have found out they've got a few deficiencies in certain areas, but there's nothing wrong with making mistakes as long as you learn quickly from them and don't make the same mistake twice."